March 30, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
49‘i 
to be bear seed, but remove the flowers as soon as 
they fade. When the plants have finished flowering 
cut the stems down to 18 in. in height or thereby 
and they will throw out side shoots and flower well 
a second time. 
Cold Frame for Raising Tomatos.— W. K. : 
Seeds would take a long time to germinate in a cold 
frame with the sunless condition of the weather 
which we have been getting for some time past. 
You might be able to get a gardener friend to put a 
pot or two of seeds in one of his warm houses to ger¬ 
minate and make a few rough leaves. By that time 
the weather should be warmer, but even then you 
would find it advantageous to make up a heap of 
fermenting manure, or fill a large box with the same. 
Tread it down firmly and cover it with a few inches 
of soil. Then pot off your Tomatos singly in small 
60 size pots or long Toms. Plunge the pots in the 
soil over this fermenting manure and the Tomatos 
will make perfectly satisfactory progress. A barrow 
load or two of manure is really all that you want. 
perus sabina, seen towards the left in the back¬ 
ground of the illustration, and after a portion of the 
blooms had done two double journeys and stood out 
two shows. Mr. McDonald is handicapped in the 
matter of time, having charge of the home farm as 
well as the garden, and did not intend exhibiting 
until encouraged by Mrs. St. Maur, the lady of the 
estate, who is passionately fond of flowers and gar¬ 
dening. The exhibitor also received a N.C.S. 
Award of Merit, besides a number of prizes for 
Grapes, which he also grows well. 
GARDENERS’ GRIEVANCES. 
I’ve read with interest the discussion going on 
under the above heading in the pages of The Gar¬ 
dening World. 
Though rather resenting the title when applied to 
the finest profession in God’s creation, I grant there 
may be some room for discussion when the griev¬ 
ances are caused by the practitioners themselves or 
their employers. 
friend's statement, though, I suppose, he agrees with 
it or he would not give it publicity, that an " all¬ 
round gardener is an all-round messer.” 
Now, can anything be more misleading to a young 
man on the first steps of the profession? There is 
room, of course, for a few specialists, but the great 
majority of young gardeners are aiming at being 
head gardeners ooe day. 
Now in most places of aDy size vegetables, fruit, 
and flowers, both inside and out, have to be attended 
to ; so it is surely very backward progress to advise 
anyone to do one thiog well when he is aiming at 
securing the management of a place where three or 
four have to be equally well done. It is not 
necessary for a bead gardener to be an expert at the 
actual performance of every operation, but it is very 
essential that he should know the routine of work in 
each and every department uoder his charge, and 
also very necessary that he should manage and 
control such work, so that all the departments may 
work in harmony to one another ; and though the 
actual carrying out of the details of the work will be 
Cup Exhibit at Exeter, 
TWO CUPS FOR CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
It must be very easy for good growers to take 
prizes for Chrysanthemums, when they have 
plenty of time to attend to their plants 
personally, or superintend others who have the 
immediate charge of them, if they have at the 
same time practically any amount of space for their 
accommodation. The accompanying illustration 
represents the stand of thirty-six blooms which took 
the first prize and the Cup, out of ten entries at 
Exeter on November 8th and g'h last, when want of 
space prevented us from reproducing the photo¬ 
graph. Mr. Alex. McDonald, gardener to H. St. 
Maur, Esq., Stover Park, Newton Abbot, was the 
winner; and independently of the keenness of the 
competition, we must take into account the fact that 
the exhibitor had only 105 plants at the beginning of 
the season from which to cut his blooms. He took 
prizes at Torquay, Chudleigh and Exeter. The 
stand also shows a portion of the same blooms which 
took the first prize and Cup at Chudleigh. That 
accounts for the two cups seen in the picture, which 
was taken at Stover Park near the celebrated Juni- 
As a young gardener and otlh who (t suppose a 
good many gardeners would say) had been a lucky 
one, I may not have much room to speak ; but at the 
same time, for the benefits of my youDg brothers in 
the profession, I would most earnestly protest 
against the tone of many of your correspondents' 
notes n “ All-round Gardeners." 
How many of these are wanted, and how seldom 
are they •found ? (You may modify that statement if 
you think I am wrong.) I believe I am safe in say¬ 
ing that in three-quarters of the moderate sized and 
large establishments in England the gardeners are 
men who have got all their training in two or per¬ 
haps only one branch of their profession, while the 
younger men seem in the great majority of cases to 
be following the same routine. Now, I ask, how can 
men thus trained expect to manage and control a 
garden staff in three or four departments in the most 
economical and best manner ? 
It would be as well to say that a general could 
command an army to good effect if he only knew the 
use and duty of one branch of the service. One of 
your correspondents says, or at least quotes a 
left to the foreman in each department. A con¬ 
tinuity of purpose is thus secured, a beautiful p'.cture 
is thus unfolded, which may take many years to 
form, but the result will be a masterpiece worthy of 
the designer, be he employer or gardener, and worthy 
of imitation by everyone, who may have the privilege 
of doing a small part of such a work. 
This m a y appear a vain dream to such of your 
readers as Mr. Botley quotes, who refuse to learn 
their profession because they will only get £1 a 
week, and have to be generally use f ul, etc. If that 
is what they aspire to they may probably get it. 
But to my young ambitious friends let me say 
" Get a good knowledge of your profession all round 
if possible. Let one of your references bear testi¬ 
mony to your work in the kitchen garden, another 
in the pleasure grounds and flower garden, another 
in the fruit department under glass, and a fourth in 
plants, etc.; while these should be backed up with 
enough technical education to teach you, why, each 
part of your practical work is done. 
Now all this is not going to be done in a day, but 
to the young man just starting his profession, let 
